


halloween candy

by neednot



Category: The Fall (TV), The Fall (UK 2013)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, Happy Halloween!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-01
Packaged: 2018-08-28 08:09:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8437990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neednot/pseuds/neednot
Summary: Reed and Stella on Halloween night.





	

Rain falls against the windows of their apartment.

“No trick or treaters tonight, then,” Stella murmurs. “Not like anyone trick-or-treats in apartment buildings, anyway.”

“I did,” Reed says, her head on Stella’s lap.

“Did you?” Stella asks.

“Mm.”

She runs her fingers through Reed’s thick hair, breathing in her smell and the candles she’s lit on the mantle.

“You wish you were with the girls, don’t you?” Stella asks.

Reed doesn’t answer. Instead, she turns her face up to Stella’s, traces her fingers down her arm.

“Am I a bad mother?” she asks quietly.

“In the grand scheme of things, no,” Stella says.

“I should be there with them.”

“I’m sure your husband’s doing a fine job. And it’s not your fault he doesn’t want to see you.”

“No, I know,” Reed says, shifting in Stella’s lap. “It’s yours.”

“Mm,” Stella says. But the joke hits a little too close.

Reed moves so she’s sitting up, leans in and kisses Stella softly on the lips. “I am happy, with you,” she says. “I am.”

“But you miss your family.”

It’s not a question.

There’s a knock on the door, then, and Reed sits up.

“Now who could that be?” Stella says. “Reed, will you check? I’m going to refill our glasses.”

Reed nods, stretches, and heads to the door.

“Trick or treat!” cry two voices, and Stella hears Reed laugh in delight as she ushers her girls into her arms.

“Where’s Daddy?” she hears Reed ask.

“Outside. He said we could stay,” Reed’s eldest Marie says, and giggles. The smaller one, Shveta, waves at Stella shyly, tiara falling down her face.

“What candy did you get?” Reed asks, and Stella stands at the counter, wine staining her lips.

Later, the girls are asleep on the couch, tucked under a quilt Stella’s grandmother made.

“Are you responsible for this?” Reed asks Stella in a low voice as they sit with their backs to the couch.

Stella doesn’t answer.

Reed leans in and kisses her, wine on her breath, and having her here is sweeter than any Halloween candy.


End file.
